Monarchs Storm Back With Second Half Rally But Fall At JMU 76-67

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- A wild second half rally saw Old Dominion cut a 13-point deficit to two, but homestanding James Madison hit enough free throws to take a 76-67 win on Thursday night in Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball action.
 
"Any time you lose its not great, but I am certainly proud of how our guys battled being undermanned, scrapping and finding a way to come back against an outstanding JMU team," said ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones.  
 
Bryce Baker got the Monarchs on the board with a pair of 3-pointers as his second one with 16:15 left in the opening half made the James Madison lead 7-6.  ODU (16-11, 8-7) evened the contest at 17-all on a quick layup by Faizon Fields and a Mekhi Long 3-pointer at the 9:48 mark.
 
James Madison (19-9, 10-5) answered that with seven straight points to take a 24-17 lead after a Takal Molson 3-pointer with 6:50 remaining.
 
That advantage remained at seven when the Monarchs converted on an non-traditional five-point play. Long drained a 3-ball with 4:07 left and on the play, Fields was pushed so he went to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. Fields converted both as ODU trimmed the deficit to 28-26.
 
After a turnover, Dericko Williams tied the contest at 28-all with a layup from an Imo Essien feed with 3:42 on the clock. From there, JMU closed the half on a 12-2 run to take a 40-30 lead at halftime as Molson hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left.
 
In the second half, the Dukes opened up the advantage to 13 points on three occasions, the last being on a Julien Wooden jumper with 9:37 left for a 57-44 advantage. The Dukes advantage was still 12 points with eight minutes left on a Wooden 3-pointer.
 
ODU found a spark as Chaunce Jenkins hit a free throw, then a jumper followed by a Jason Wade layup as the Monarchs cut the lead to 60-53 at 6:33. The lead was back at double figures following a pair of Mezie Offurum free throws with 4:33 remaining as JMU was up 65-55.
 
The Monarchs found one more run going on a 10-2 spurt capped by the fourth 3-pointer of the night from Baker to trail 67-65 at the 2:08 mark. From that point, JMU hit 9-of-10 from the line to take the win.
 
Jenkins and Baker topped the Monarchs with 12 points each, while Long added 11 and Fields scored 10. Williams was the leading rebounder with seven to go along with nine points, while Fields added six boards.
 
NOTES
Jenkins scored all 12 of his points in the second half and added a team-high four assists.
The 12 points and four 3-pointers for Baker were season-highs.
In the first matchup in Norfolk, the Monarchs outrebounded JMU by seven. Tonight's matchup saw JMU outrebound ODU 37-27.
The game saw two ties and two lead changes.